Is it true that Tura is closing down ?

Hello !
If yes, it is sad, because they manufactured the Rollei R3 film....
What a short lived film !
I've just orderd some to test.... Grrrr !
As we are at it, any news about Forte ? Will they survive ? and produce their own brand or will they be confined to white bow and unbranded films and papers ?
TIA !

Well, they are in Insolvency, just like Forte and Ilford were since October. They have too much debt, their banks denied further support.

If they find no new financier, they´ll have to close, and looking at what Tura is doing -just cutting what others produce-, in my opionion they have no chance of surviving.

Originally Posted by GeorgesGiralt

because they manufactured the Rollei R3 film....

No, they didn´t They probably cut it into 35mm (not 120 and sheet!) - and even denied every involvment in it.

[QUOTE=GeorgesGiralt]
As we are at it, any news about Forte ? Will they survive ?

Look at what Mirko and J&C announced on the internet (Here, at fotoimpex.de and other places) - they are back in production and will be reevaluated in summer. So far it looks like they are making money, and only this is what counts.

If they find no new financier, they´ll have to close, and looking at what Tura is doing -just cutting what others produce-, in my opionion they have no chance of surviving.

I think there's a good chance Tura will survive, although they don't make any product they are one of the biggest suppliers to the minilab business worldwide. Paper consumption in minilabs is huge and big business.

I am not sure they are that big - according to local newspapers, the whole crew is 33 employees incl. administrations.

One BIG downside is, that they are fully depending on Agfa - last fall when Ilford and Forte failed to satisfy the market, demand on Agfa stuff rose and they prefered to deliver themselves and Tura was out-of-stock on bw materials for months!

Plus, in recent years Agfa went into the private-label system on their own, installing confectioning plants in the US (and elsewhere) to satisfy the needs of the *marts on the North American continent.

According to a quote on a german forum, Maco already dumped them, they found someone else cutting the expensive traffic survaillance stuff aka R³.

I am not sure they are that big - according to local newspapers, the whole crew is 33 employees incl. administrations.

One BIG downside is, that they are fully depending on Agfa - last fall when Ilford and Forte failed to satisfy the market, demand on Agfa stuff rose and they prefered to deliver themselves and Tura was out-of-stock on bw materials for months!

Plus, in recent years Agfa went into the private-label system on their own, installing confectioning plants in the US (and elsewhere) to satisfy the needs of the *marts on the North American continent.

Interesting stuff!

I see Tura as being very much like Nike, a small company with no manufacturing plant but huge sales worldwide. This is supposedly the model of the future for many businesses.

I have an interest in Tura carrying on because I use both their B&W and colour roll papers. So far I haven't had any problems with supply. I was told by my supplier that they also repackage Ilford paper and film. I suspect they use anything they can get their hands on.

The situation at Tura is critical. Same story for Leica. Further I agree about the possibilities with RJR that it will be difficult for Tura to go on. It's always very difficult to predict where the problems are located.

About the R3: Indeed only the 135-36 format is cutted and packed at the Tura plant and indeed an alternative is already found.
There will be no problem in R3 delivery.

I
I have an interest in Tura carrying on because I use both their B&W and colour roll papers. So far I haven't had any problems with supply. I was told by my supplier that they also repackage Ilford paper and film. I suspect they use anything they can get their hands on.

One BIG downside is, that they are fully depending on Agfa - last fall when Ilford and Forte failed to satisfy the market, demand on Agfa stuff rose and they prefered to deliver themselves and Tura was out-of-stock on bw materials for months!

This was a "self-made" problem. Ilford was prepared to deliver. Agfa was prepared to deliver. Nobody to my knowledge starved Tura. They seemed to be on a crash diet. Out of cash or out of credit? Tura, so the grapevine, only purchased a jumbo after they had committed orders and, of course, had no more to meet additional demand. Tura's move to request protection from their creditors has clearly been brewing for some time and I suspect the lawyer choosen to head the company elected, following legal and not business instinct, to forgo business than be open to the threat of jail---- in Germany continuing to order products beyond the point where it can proved one could pay for them is a criminal offense of fraud. German jails are filled with failed businessmen and real estate speculators. In Germany, afterall, money and capital is sacred and life is cheap :-)